When people can start their own businesses, it helps individuals and families succeed. It can make whole communities more prosperous and more secure. It offers a positive path for young people seeking the chance to make something of themselves, and can empower people who have previously been locked out of the existing social order -- women and minorities, others who aren't part of the “old boys” network -- give them a chance to contribute and to lead. And it can create a culture where innovation and creativity are valued -- where we don't just look at the way things have always been, but rather we say, how could things be? Why not? Let’s make something new.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered remarks to kick-off the final day of the Global Entrepreneurship summit at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Following the last two successful Summits in Morocco and Kenya, GES 2016 has come to Silicon Valley in order to highlight the successes of thousands of firms in the area that exemplify America’s entrepreneurial spirit. This year's Summit brings 700 global entrepreneurs together with 300 investors and entrepreneurial supporters, creating a wealth of opportunity for investment, partnership, and collaboration.

GES is about daring. It’s about knowing your power to change the world – and then acting on it. It’s about leading our planet towards a future of prosperity, peace, and progress. And I look forward to joining with you and all of you as we realize that vision in the years ahead.

There were 5,000 applicants to come here, and every one of you is here because you were selected. There are some 700-plus entrepreneurs, there are 300-plus investors, maybe 1,500 people total – it’s a remarkable gathering, and I’m delighted that you have come here to share experiences, to learn, to talk about how we’re going to define the future.

So why does President Obama and the United States place an emphasis on supporting entrepreneurship globally? Three reasons come to mind. First, prosperity. Entrepreneurship has an impact on creating jobs globally including in the Middle East and North Africa. Second, stability. By virtue of creating jobs and incomes, economic progress and enhanced stability follows, diminishing extremism and associated security threats....

I just had the opportunity to visit the Jade Emperor Pagoda. And I think going from a 100-year-old sacred temple to this 21st century Dreamplex is I think a wonderful expression of the evolution that's taken place here in Vietnam -- a country that honors its history, but is also boldly racing towards the future.

"...we are at a moment in history where technology, globalization, our economy is changing so fast. And this gathering, South by Southwest, brings together people who are at the cutting-edge of those changes. Those changes offer us enormous opportunities but also are very disruptive and unsettling. They empower individuals to do things that they could have never dreamed of before, but they also empower folks who are very dangerous to spread dangerous messages. "